National Bank of Kuwait – Kingdom of Bahrain, a branch of NBK Group, has recorded net profits of BD33.5 million ($88.9 million) in the first half of 2009, compared with BD21.6 million ($57.1 million) in the same period of 2008.

This represents an increase of 55 per cent increase in net profits over the first six months of 2008.

“This strong performance attests to the solid foundations on which the bank was built. NBK Bahrain has been able to sail through the storm gripping global and regional financial markets unscathed, as we have consistently focused on our core business and ways to diversify sources of income,” said Ali Fardan, NBK Bahrain general manager.

“The quality of our assets is beyond reproach, built on a culture of prudence and strict risk management practices, which continues to serve us well in times of calm and crisis. Meanwhile, we continue to grow our operations locally, constantly developing new products to serve our corporate and consumer customers,” he explained.

NBK Group CEO, Ibrahim S Dabdoub said: “We are proceeding steadily and successfully in our plans to transform the group into a truly regional player. Over the past year, we have concluded several significant deals, namely the acquisition of Al Watany Bank of Egypt, the acquisition of a 40 per cent stake in Turkish Bank, the increase of our ownership stake to 30 per cent in the International Bank of Qatar and the unveiling of our first branch in Dubai.”

“This strategic initiative has become a main pillar on which we will build future growth, as we expect our international branches to contribute 50 per cent of total group profits by the year 2015,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service